Study Desk

A man to whom God giveth riches and gains and honour, so that nothing doth he lack for his soul - of all that he craveth, and yet God doth not give him power to eat thereof, but, a man unknown, eateth it, - this, was vanity, and, an incurable evil, it was.

Though a man should beget a hundred children, and live, many years, so that many should be the days of his years but, his own soul, should not be satisfied with the good, and he should not even have, a burial, I said, Better than he, is an untimely birth!

For what profit hath the wise man, over the dullard? What can, the poor man, know - so as to walk before the living?

For, as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so, is the laughter of the dullard, - even this, then, was vanity.

Do not become so very righteous, neither count thyself wise beyond measure, - wherefore shouldst thou destroy thyself?

Do not be so very lawless, neither become thou foolish, - wherefore shouldst thou die, before thy time?

And, thereupon, I considered the lawless when buried, when they had entered, their graves , that, from the place of the Holy One, they used to go and boast in the city that they had so done, - even this, was vanity.

Every one, was like every one else, one destiny, had the righteous and the lawless, the good and the pure and the impure, and he that sacrificed, and he that did not sacrifice, - as the good man, so, the sinner, he that took an oath, as he who, of an oath, stood in fear.

Just as thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, when the body is in the womb of her that is with child, even, so, canst thou not know the work of God, who maketh all.

SHEDo not look on me, because, I, am so swarthy, because the sun hath scorched me, - My mother's sons, were angry with me, they set me to keep the vineyards, Mine own vineyard, have I not kept. …

HEAs a lily among thorns, So, is my fair one, among the daughters!

SHEAs an apple-tree among the trees of the forest, So, is my beloved, among the sons: In his shade, I greatly delighted and sat down, And, his fruit, was sweet to my taste.

So that filled is their land with silver and gold, And there is no end to their treasures, - And filled is theft land with horses, And there is no end to their chariots;

So the mean man boweth down And the great man stoopeth low, - Therefore do not thou forgive them!

For this cause, did the anger of Yahweh kindle upon his own people, And he stretched out his hand against them and smote them - So that the mountains, trembled, And, their dead bodies, served, for fuel in the midst of the streets. For all this, hath his anger, not turned back, But still, is his hand outstretched,

So shall he become a hallowed asylum, - But a stone to strike against, and a rock to stumble over unto both houses of Israel A trap and a snare to the dweller in Jerusalem;

Turning aside from judgment, the poor, And robbing, of justice, the oppressed of my people, - So that, widows, become, their spoil, And of the fatherless, they make prey.

But as for him, not so, doth he deem, And in his heart, not so, doth he think, - For, to destroy, is in his heart, And to cut off nations, not a few;

Shall I not as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so, do to Jerusalem and her images?

So shall, the Light of Israel, become, a fire, And his Holy One, a flame, Which shall burn and consume his thorns and his briars, in one day;